Hand knit kilt hose... What would you pay?

[Arlen]

Look here at these prices
http://www.scotclans.com/shopping/kilt_accs_shoe.html
Quality costs money in most cases
Handknitted Tartan hose can run at around 300 quid

*Grins* That's part of why she wants to to it.
She usually uses really good yarns and I can attest to the quality of the hose she makes.
She really justs wants to be able to offer good quality stuff that more people can afford. (Mostly because she knows what a hard time I have getting hose to fit my feet at reasonable prices.)

For her absolute highest quality, fanciest, custom kilt hose the most she'd charge would be $100 and the cost of the yarn.

[jordanjm]

I would come up with a pricing structure that includes all of her costs. People like to see on price.

[PiobBear]

I've paid $100 for a custom pair of Argyll hose in my tartan.

[M. A. C. Newsome]

I hate to be evil's advocate here, but if she is payingherself $10 per hour and is thinking of only charging $30 to $45 for a pair of hand knit kilt hose, do I assume from this that it only takes her 3 or 4 hours to make a completed set of hand knit hose?

Either she is the fastest knitter on the planet, or there is just something here that I am not seeing. My wife knits, and I know how long it takes her to make a simple handbag, or a pair of regular socks. I just don't see kilt hose being done in 3 hours.

Also, you have to add in the cost of the yarn itself to the labor costs. I know with local people you say she has them buy their own yarn, but if she's serious about taking on line orders, you want to be able to offer the complete service. A lot of people won't be interested in sourcing their own materials and having them shipped to you -- they will just want to pay one price and get the finished product. You want to make it as easy for them as possible.

And please don't sell your fiance short -- make sure she makes enough money doing it for it to be worth her while. She may say now that she enjoys knitting enough that she isn't concerned with making any money, but once she's done her fiftieth pair of hose and looks at the stack of orders for more piling up behind it, she's going to want some kind of compensation for her many hours of labor!

Great looking scarf, by the way!
M

[Arlen]

I would come up with a pricing structure that includes all of her costs. People like to see on price.

Thanks. That seems like one of the big ones. It's great to be getting so much help for her.

[Arlen]

I've paid $100 for a custom pair of Argyll hose in my tartan.

Thanks.
Do you mind if I ask, was it a fairly plain argyle or argyle with the thin overlay?

[Dreadbelly]

I make less than a dollar an hour usually. I just try to recover my supply costs.

Can't compete with sweat shop labour.

I know I should be charging more for my stuff, but nobody is buying anything right now as it is.

Best of luck with the venture, and that scarf is fantastic.

[Arlen]

M. A. C. Newsome, feel free. I'm all for any help people can give her.
For a pair of kilt hose in my size (U.S 6 x x wide) it usually takes her about 3 hours for a bog-standard set of hose.
Obviously it depends on shoe size and the yarn and needles she's using, but she's a continental knitter and one of those folks who just does it so fast you can't really follow what's going on.

I have to admit, I remember how she was after 5 feet of that cable knit scarf, so I'm trying to be supportive as well as realistic about her goal of providing affordable hose to the masses!

It seems like the consensus is to provide some sort of pricing chart with all the variables and maybe get her to charge a little more depending on quality and her time.

She's toying with the idea of making a pair for someone online (Either in here or in one of the communities she frequents) and getting them to do a review that she can use to base some of her pricing on.
It's going to be about 2 months before she really starts, but she wants to be prepared and it means enough to her that I'd like to help.

Honestly, I think she's just sick of going to dances and seeing young men with bad kilt hose sagging around their ankles.

I have to admit, I do love that scarf.

[affabletoaster]

I realise I'm very late with this, but that figure is so low as to be absurd! If she can knit a pair of knee-high socks in 5 hours she must be the fastest knitter that has ever lived, or must be using chunky yarn.

I also knit kilt hose on commission, and I charge $200-300CAD for a pair of argyl hose. I am a speedy knitter, and I make them out of fingering weight yarn on size 2.25/2.5mm needles. It usually takes me about 30 hours to complete a pair (and since I am a full-time student with another job, I usually give people a delivery estimate of a month and a half, so I can order the yarn, knit them, and ship them.)

I know you say she can do them very quickly, but I honestly don't think it's humanly possible to go that fast. I am neither an inexperienced nor a slow knitter, and I am baffled by this.

Argyl is a little more complicated and time-consuming than stockinette with a decorative top, or even cables, but your friend is still undervaluing her skill and her time.

[Arlen]

She tends to use worsted weight yarn or fingering weight depending on what the customer chooses and for plain hose knits them really fast using some sort of technique where you knit both at once on the same set of needles. (I'm still a definite novice knitter, so I don't know the best details.)
She's actually been going for a while now and had to close off her waiting list when it got to a year long wait for the bonnets and hose she offers.
The plain hose are still reasonable prices, but she charges a good bit more for argyle and balmoral hose as well as cable knits and popcorn tops.

Thanks for the comment about her undervaluing her time and talents. I tend to think she does, but she really just enjoys knitting and wants to offer something a bit more accessible.